Election Commission to use EVMs with VVPAT in Gujarat polls: SC told

New Delhi, Aug 9 (IANS) The Election Commission on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that it will be able to use EVMs with Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines in the upcoming Gujarat Assembly polls.

A bench headed by Chief Justice J.S. Khehar was told by the poll panel that it will be able to conduct the Gujarat Assembly polls later this year using Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) with paper trail if it gets 73,500 VVPAT machines by September from the manufacturers.

An affidavit filed by the poll panel said: “If the said consignment of VVPATs is delivered on time (September), the Election Commission expects to be able to conduct the elections to the Gujarat legislative assembly completely with the use of VVPATs.”

Currently it has 53,500 VVPAT units, said the poll panel, adding that the number of VVPAT units required for conducting election to the Gujarat legislative assembly is 70,000 units.

The VVPAT machine is connected with EVMs and dispenses a paper proof for the voters so that they can verify that their vote is cast correctly.

Taking note of the submissions of the Election Commission, the court disposed of the plea filed by Gujarat Patidar leader Reshma Vithabhai Patel seeking the use of either ballot paper or EVMs with VVPAT for the assembly elections.

Patel, also convener of the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti which was at the forefront of the Patel quota agitation, alleged that the EVMs were not fully reliable, foolproof, tamper-proof or hack-proof.

The Election Commission maintained that EVMs currently used for conducting Lok Sabha and assembly elections in the country “cannot be tampered with”.